Typically a clamp assembly is used to support the conductor from an overhead feed line to a residential or other structure. The clamp assembly is commonly provided with one of several designs of wire bail or small cable, which is used to attach to a hook or other means at or near the service mast. Conventional clamps are fashioned from pairs of locking wedges which clamp the conductor when tension is applied to the conductor.
To install these conventional devices, the operator must disassemble the two wedges, lay the conductor into the receptacle wedge component, and insert the pressure wedge component into the slots of the receptable wedge component. This operation requires holding each of the two components separately, while maintaining the conductor under tension, which is particularly difficult when working at a significant height above the ground.
All too often, one of the pieces of the wedge assembly is accidentally dropped, requiring a person on the ground to retrieve the part and throw it back up to the lineman on the pole.